Search results

The main objective of this paper is to investigate information system (IS) supported coordination in knowledge‐intensive business processes. These are business processes that cannot be pre‐defined as their models evolve during process execution from the accumulated experience. Consequently, these processes require a high level of knowledge‐sharing, collection and reuse among all participants in the process.

The paper offers a critical analysis of the main limitations of workflow technology that is widely considered to be the leading process‐oriented, coordination technology. It illustrates why this technology cannot be used to support coordination in knowledge‐intensive business processes. The paper then identifies a number of requirements for possible IS support.

The main conclusion of this paper is that coordination in knowledge‐intensive processes is, in fact, a knowledge‐intensive process itself, and as such it cannot be fully pre‐defined. Therefore, automation of this process is neither desirable nor possible.

Each IS requirement, proposed in this paper, identifies a number of further research and implementation challenges related to support of knowledge‐intensive business process. They will be of interest to researchers and practitioners both in the fields of business process management as well as knowledge management.

In essence, this paper argues that knowledge‐intensive business processes require fundamentally different coordination support from what is currently available in the area of business process support. This paper shifts the main emphasis from process automation to IS support for situated decision‐making.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodological framework for assessing coordination in information intensive processes in a perspective of government innovation needs.

In the literature on e‐government most of the assessment efforts challenge mere technological issues, completeness of supplied services, and number of users “attracted”; we describe a methodological framework for addressing coordination problems in information‐intensive processes, explore the potential effectiveness of the proposed approach within an e‐government system managing authoritative procedures in Natural Parks, and finally discuss strengths and limitations of the methodology.

Provides the framework for testing the proposed methodology in developing land use permissions in natural parks.

The proposed methodology considers that governmental procedure are well monitored and known with respect to information flows, individual tasks and performances. The applicability of the proposed methodology in government processes can present some limitations when dealing with complex and inter‐institutional procedures whose information flows and roles are not clearly identifiable. Moreover, the methodology is dedicated to sequential procedures.

Although other and in some cases more complex methodologies are available to assess coordination, the suggested methodology is easy to be applied and needs information that is not difficult to be acquired. It provides support to improve the analyzed process as it estimates the coordination load involved by different ways to implement it.

The paper approaches the e‐government assessment problem focusing on the opportunity for the organization to learn about itself and producing organizational innovation.

This study aims to explore the conditions that lead to the occurrence of third-party interveners’ coordination in conflict resolution efforts.

The studied theme is elaborated by means of an analysis of two case studies: the Maoist armed conflict of Nepal and the Moro conflict of the Philippines. Importantly, this study solicits the views of third-party practitioners and other relevant stakeholders in the field and attempts to demonstrate how they perceive key issues in third-party coordination.

Third-party coordination is a contingent process, with varying needs and relevance in different phases and types of conflict. The escalation of violence, issues of international concern such as human rights and the homogeneity of interveners are other core elements that have often played a key role in third-party coordination.

In the existing literature, there are no such indicator-based explanations regarding the occurrence of third-party coordination; thus, the findings of this research on this particular theme are well-developed and better conceptualized than what has been discussed in the literature to date.

The analysis undertaken in this study can contribute to the design of better policies and strategies for third-party coordination.

This study is based on in-depth interviews and interactions with a diverse range of third-party practitioners and other stakeholders working in real-world conflicts, who have perhaps the best understanding of various dimensions of third-party coordination. No previous research has been conducted on this particular theme by incorporating direct interaction with a wide range of interveners from two distinct conflict contexts.

Triggered by perceived inefficiency and inequality, buyers and suppliers coordinate with each other. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework of coordination process based on theoretical review and verifications from three case studies.

The approach takes the form of three longitudinal and in‐depth case studies, which involved coordination processes between a toy manufacturer with three European retailers in one calendar year.

The three case studies provided three main observations. First, the coordination process followed some basic sequential activities: evaluation, derivation, offer and negotiation, assessment, and implementation. Second, the coordination processes deviated from this basic sequence with an interactive coordination cycles of assessment, re‐derivation, and re‐offer and negotiation (called inner‐helix) when there was disagreement. Third, closer mode of coordination, which involved joint evaluation and derivation of coordination solutions, reduced the numbers of iterative coordination cycles. These empirical findings verified the presupposed framework of coordination process.

Three qualitative case studies may not be highly generalisable and multiple dyadic coordination processes may occur. However, the findings form a foundation for further understanding of the coordination process.

The proposed framework of the coordination process further expands the theories of inter‐organisational relationship and the inter‐organisational cooperative process. It also reveals that deliberate evaluation and derivation activities (and even jointly with other supply chain members) may significantly improve coordination.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a manufacturer's strategy to coordinate efforts of multiple suppliers' involvement in the product development process. The paper also proposes critical factors in determining the appropriate coordination strategy.

Based on the synthesis of the literature and relevant theories, a typology of coordination strategies is developed. Propositions are developed pertaining to the performance implications of the coordination strategies and the key determinants of the effectiveness of the coordination strategies.

Four ideal types of coordination strategies are: centralized‐programming, centralized‐feedback, decentralized‐programming, and decentralized‐feedback. Prior research and recently reported industry examples indicate that a manufacturer's coordination with multiple suppliers varies in terms of the information‐processing structure and the locus of control. The effectiveness of a manufacturer's coordination strategies is influenced by the extent of component modularity, product complexity, technology uncertainty, and the technical capability of suppliers.

The four coordination strategies involve trade‐offs on certain performance dimensions. Decentralized‐programming promotes process efficiency, while centralized‐feedback facilitates problem solving. Centralized‐programming favors integrative product design, while decentralized‐feedback favors innovation from supplier's technical expertise.

While research on supplier involvement in product development has primarily focused on a single supplier's integration in the process, this paper extends understanding of multi‐organizational coordination by applying information‐processing decision‐making theories to the product development context.

The purpose of this study is to understand the antecedents that influence supply chain coordination in the pharmaceutical supply chain using the transaction cost analysis framework.

Data from 156 retail pharmacies on their relationship with the pharmaceutical wholesalers are used to test the hypotheses.

The findings of this paper show the importance of antecedents that are based on the transactional cost theory, such as asset specificity and environmental uncertainty. These antecedents impact the supply chain process coordination at different levels – transactional, operational and strategic.

Future research may investigate additional antecedents using other theoretical lenses.

Pharmaceutical wholesalers are dependent on pharmaceutical manufacturers for the supply of products and face intense competition that results in lower profit margins. Given that the pharmaceutical industry is strictly regulated, the wholesaler facilitates regulatory compliance of the manufacturers in the distribution process by coordinating with them. But the wholesalers do also face a constant threat from the manufacturers, who could potentially bypass the wholesalers (disintermediation) and go directly to the pharmacies. To counterbalance the dependence, the wholesalers strive to achieve loyalty with the retail pharmacies. Through supply chain coordination, the wholesalers achieve efficiency in procurement for the pharmacies, thus reducing cost and improving their competitive advantage.

Supply chain coordination in the pharmaceutical supply chain improves the safety and security of the pharmaceutical distribution system.

This paper contributes to the supply chain coordination stream of literature. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to develop the three levels of process coordination in the pharmaceutical supply chain context. This paper shows how process coordination can be achieved between the dyad without vertical integration.

This study aims to investigate the impact of cross-functional coordination (cross-functional system, process and team coordination) on customer coordination (customer strategic and operational coordination) and operational performance. Following the lens of information processing theory (IPT), this study examines the diverse mechanisms of cross-functional coordination practices in enhancing firms’ information processing capabilities (IPCs) to cope with the higher information processing demands resulting from customer coordination, finally improving operational performance.

Based on data collected from 410 Chinese manufacturers, the authors use the structural equation modeling method to test the theoretical model.

The authors found that cross-functional system coordination is positively associated with customer operational coordination (COC) but not customer strategic coordination (CSC). Cross-functional process coordination increases both customer strategic and operational coordination. Cross-functional team coordination significantly promotes CSC but not COC. Both customer operational and strategic coordination facilitate operational performance.

This research pioneers in identifying three dimensions of cross-functional coordination based on IPT and examine their distinct impacts on various customer coordination activities. The authors distinguish two customer coordination dimensions and reveal their effects on operational performance. This research contributes to the development of IPT. Additionally, this study provides guidelines for managers to coordinate internal departments and collaborate with external customers to enhance firms’ operational performance.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how firms are redesigning the organizational architecture of supply chains, bundling and unbundling resources, sharing information and coordinating flows in order to facilitate capability partitioning. It aims to analyze how process interdependencies are managed either through modularity or coordination mechanisms. The paper is anchored in the emergent theory of modularity, a transaction cost‐based perspective of modular systems.

This paper adopts the case study methodology. It uses an in‐depth case study of Logoplaste, a global supplier of plastic packaging, in particular investigating how the firm organizes supply chain activities around an integration mode designated as “hole‐in‐the‐wall.”

In a context of high process interdependence the firm has developed a coordination capability, an ability to manage the interfaces at minimum cost either by modularizing the process or defining appropriate coordination mechanisms. This capability becomes a core competence of the firm that enables it to further appropriate rents that lie at process interfaces.

The case study method limits the generalization of the findings, but allows more depth in the analysis of the proposed framework.

As the complexity of sourced components increases firms will need to complement their modular approach to supply chain design with new organizational‐coordination skills and an ability to externalize knowledge. The case study provides several examples of the type of coordination required.

This research adds to the literature on organizational modularity in two distinct ways. First, it focuses on the development of a coordination capability to manage process interdependences rather than the partitioning of technical capabilities across the supply chain. Second, it brings to the discussion of modularity recent developments in transaction cost economics that go beyond the engineering perspective. A coordination capability represents the organization's ability to organize transactions in order to appropriate rents, rather than merely minimize transaction costs.

Manufacturing errors, which will propagate along the assembly process, are inevitable and difficult to analyze for complex products, such as aircraft. To realize the goal of precise assembly for an aircraft, with revealing the nonlinear transfer mechanism of assembly error, a set of analytical methods with response to the assembly error propagation process are developed. The purpose of this study is to solve the error problems by modeling and constructing the coordination dimension chain to control the consistency of accumulated assembly errors for different assemblies.

First, with the modeling of basic error sources, mutual interaction relationship of matting error and deformation error is analyzed, and influence matrix is formed. Second, by defining coordination datum transformation process, practical establishing error of assembly coordinate system is studied, and the position of assembly features is modified with actual relocation error considering datum changing. Third, considering the progressive assembly process, error propagation for a single assembly station and multi assembly stations is precisely modeled to gain coordination error chain for different assemblies, and the final coordination error is optimized by controlling the direction and value of accumulated error range.

Based on the proposed methodology, coordination error chain, which has a direct influence on the property of stealthy and reliability for modern aircrafts, is successfully constructed for the assembly work of the jointing between leading edge flap component and wing component at different assembly stations.

Precise assembly work at different assembly stations is completed to verify methodology’s feasibility. With analyzing the main comprised error items and some optimized solutions, benefit results for the practical engineering application showing that the maximum value of the practical flush of the profiles between the two components is only 0.681 mm, the minimum value is only 0.021 mm, and the average flush of the entire wing component is 0.358 mm, which are in accordance with theoretical calculation results and can successfully fit the assembly requirement. The potential user can be the engineers for manufacturing the complex products.

The purpose of this paper is to explore intra-firm coordination in temporary organizations (TOs). Specifically, it identifies and explains how operational coordination evolves over time in a particular TO: the 2016 Olympic Games Organizing Committee.

This is an immersive case study based on qualitative analysis and longitudinal fieldwork, which allowed the observation of operational coordination in real time. The main sources of data are participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and internal documents of the TO.

The findings suggest that operational coordination in TOs dealing with multiple and decentralized operations takes place through the combination of both formal and informal coordination mechanisms. Further analysis indicates a contingency logic in using these mechanisms, shaped by the presence of specific coordination challenges in different phases of work. Three main aspects influencing coordination are explored. First, it is suggested that TOs are inherently “hybrid.” That is, they comprise enduring as well as temporary and centralized as well as decentralized elements. These elements change over time. Second, a formal transition phase is explored: “venueization” – a phase between planning and operation in which centralized structural elements and processes are translated to operational units. Third, since TOs present emergence and dynamism, and related challenges across various phases of work, coordination is arguably contingent on the phase of the project.

Although the findings are limited to a particular empirical context, this paper offers theoretically new insights concerning the hybrid nature of processes in TOs, the contingent use of complementary coordination mechanisms, and the importance of the venueization phase, and provides a basis for future research into operational coordination in TOs.

The findings can help practitioners understand and identify the challenges embedded in temporary contexts and develop coordination strategies accordingly.

This study explains how operational coordination takes place in TOs enabled by formal and informal mechanisms, which are contingently combined over time through particular coordination strategies.